Futaba 14MZ
Simon Lockington

All the goodies lined up

Welcome screen

The home screen of the 14MZ

System menu

Trainer menu

Display configuration properties

Date/Time configuration

Switch configuration, only really needed if you decide to move any of the switches.

Hardware reversing configuration. Not entirely sure how useful this function is.

Linkage menu (formerly known as the Model menu on the 9Z)

Servo monitor screen, haven't yet worked out what the Test and Moving Test buttons are for.

Select your model

Define type of model (glider, fixed wing, powered glider or helicopter) and sub-categories (ie Swash type).

Picture management. Pictures are copied onto the system from your PC then selected here.

Define what sounds you want played on what events.

Define what frequency is used for this model as well as the modulation

List of available frequencies (defined by the region set in the transmitter).

Assign functions to the various controls.

Sub-trim menus

Servo reversing.

Failsafe menus

ATV configuration menu. Not entirely sure what the relationship between Travel and Limit settings are.

I wish to thank Stephen Fan at Cyberheli for arranging the loan of this unit for me to review.

For nearly ten years the Futaba 9Z range of transmitters has been competing at the top end of the transmitter market. The 9Z’s legendary reputation for being nearly infinitely flexible was also balanced out by the view by some of it’s infinite complexity.

After the release of the first 9Z the WC version followed with slight software updates. Following that, the WCII version was released with further software updates and also modifications to the sensors on the gimbals that allowed better implementation of CCPM applications.

For a long time now, the 9Z family of transmitters has been the choice of a great many of the great champions in both the helicopter, and aeroplane community.

Now, Futaba has a new flagship in it’s transmitter line up, the Futaba 14MZ. While the 14MZ has replaced the 9Z as the flagship transmitter, Futaba have marketed the 14MZ at a step above the 9Z which means that the 9Z will continue to be produced and marketed.

It just so happens that I visited Hong Kong the day the first 14MZ unit came into Cyberheli and Stephen was kind enough to provide it on loan for me to review. Unfortunately, the unit is a Japanese version and did not come with an English manual so I’ve been trying to work it out on my own…

I should start out by saying, cause this is a big article and I don’t want to waste your time, if you found the 9Z hard to program, the 14MZ isn’t much easier. Also, this beast is not for dumbasses. If neither of these points worry you, get yourself a coffee, block out your diary for a while and read on...

WHAT YOU GET FOR ALL THAT MONEY
TRANSMITTER CASE
No longer do you get the traditional 9Z style case that lies flat like a briefcase. Instead, this case stands tall and the transmitter stands up within it rather than lying flat. The case is heavily protected with foam, although I don’t really believe that it’s fully successful. Sometimes the transmitter feels like it is being ‘pressured in’ (ie squashed).

Also, if you insert the transmitter facing towards you, 8 times out of 10 it will turn itself on and you won’t realise it (the switch rubs on a case bulkhead).

SERVOS
The set comes with four 9255 servos which have 125 ounces of torque at 0.16 second transit time. They look very much like 9252’s though. Haven’t yet flown these servos.

RECEIVER
The large fourteen channel receiver is a little bit wider than the usual nine channel ones as you’d expect. There are 13 servo ports arranged along the end, with two additional ports arranged horizontally underneath.

MISCELLANEOUS
Also included is the stylus for navigating the menus on the 14MZ.
A 1500mah receiver battery.
Futaba Heavy Duty Switch.
An orange Futaba neck strap.
A whole roll of frequency ribbons to use depending on what channel you select.

MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE 9Z AND THE 14MZ
There are a number of differences between the 9Z and 14MZ, but in essence the functions remain the same.

The primary difference is that the 14MZ has 14 channels versus the 9Z’s nine. I can just see the turbine plank and scale pilots frothing at the mouth to get their hands on those five extra channels.

The CAMPAC memory so fondly used by past Futaba pilots has been replaced by a generic Compact Flash card which can be brought off the shelf at any electronics store.

The large Futaba transmitter module used by the 9Z contained the frequency crystal and used to do all the transmitting has been replaced now by a synthesized system internally built into the transmitter. This means you can choose from a list of frequencies to transmit on so if you find that your normal frequency is taken, you simply select a different frequency. In practise this is going to take a lot of diligence from the user to ensure they are no accidental shootdowns.

Which frequencies you can select from a determined from what region your radio is coded to. At the moment, this radio is locked into Japan which means we can only use the valid Japanese frequencies.

This also means that no longer can you just go to another country and buy another module on a valid frequency and just fly. Somehow, the region in the transmitter will have to be changed. How this is done, remains to be seen.

Apparently all this has been done to prevent ‘grey market’ sales. Sounds very similar to the DVD region coding that used to be in effect, look how well that succeeded (for those who don’t know, it fell on it’s ass and is now ineffective).

Another change has been the increased servo resolution, up from 1024 steps to 2048. Some may knock this as fairly un-interesting, however, those who experienced the change from 512 to 1024 steps will understand the importance of this feature.

For those who are not sure what this means for them, it means that the servos will now have a finer resolution (ie there are now double the ‘stops’ in a servo’s total movement which yields smoother movement), this will be REAL handy for CCPM applications.

The user interface is controlled by Microsoft Windows CE. One of the most common comments I hear about this transmitter is the line “I don’t want a blue screen contributing to a crash!” and all of those one liners. The fact is the flight controls are all handled by a separate sub-system constructed by Futaba in much the same way as the 9Z. The Windows CE interface only handles the system configuration side of the system. It’s used for setting the configuration details of the system and it’s models and not for the flight controls.

The interface is controlled via the touch screen and a few touch buttons mounted at the bottom of the screen. You can use your fingers, but a stylus is provided which I recommend using, it makes it a whole lot easier.

CHANGES TO THE EXTERNAL TRANSMITTER LAYOUT
While you can definitely see the resemblance between the 9Z and the 14MZ, a whole heap has changed. Gone are the nooks and crannies that trapped dirt, dust and fuel and were very hard to clean. It has been replaced by a sleek, brushed casing with smooth lines that is much easier to maintain.

Also, two of the three dials now have a push action so when not in use they can sit flush with the casing.

There are now six digital trims instead of four.

All the switches are easily moved and reconfigured.

The Futaba sign at the base of the antenna lights up when in use and during power up blazes all different colours. If John Travolta were around he could bust some Saturday Night Fever moves during the start up sequence.

There are two additional sliders now.

The antenna is detachable and stores in the bottom of the casing in much the same way as the JR 10X has done for a fair while now.

On the back, the DSC/Trainer cord jack is joined by a headphone socket (more on this later), a charging jack and on the side, a USB connection.

One of the panels on the side flips out to reveal the Compact Flash card.

THE FEEL IN YOUR HANDS
The first impression I had when I picked it up was that it sat further out from your chest than the 9Z on account of the screen (which is probably big enough to watch Lord of the Rings on).

What is nice though is the 14MZ retains the ‘balanced’ feel that the 9Z always had in that it will sit level on the neckstrap (ie the bottom won’t slide down and the aerial doesn’t come up and whack the crap out of your face).

Those who complained about how heavy the 9Z was won’t find any salvation in the 14. This beast has not been to Jenny Craig at all.

The carry handle is a bit more substantial on the 14 than the 9Z.

I initially found the sticks to be far too short (I fly finger and thumb), but these are easily lengthened.

The feel of the sticks is far superior to the 9Z and much more like the JR 10X, they’re very smooth although you can still feel a ratchet type mechanism on the pitch controls which doesn’t turn me on too much (yes this is the helicopter version).

MR SPOCK, ENGAGE THE WARPDRIVE IF YOU PLEASE
Firing up the 14 is a bit of a sensation. Firstly a splash screen comes up on the screen displaying the model names and current status of the Compact Flash card.

Then the John Travolta sequence with the lights starts and it asks you if you want to be transmitting.

Once you’ve made your selection you’re prompted with the ‘Home Page’ which contains just a WHOLE lot of information, including, but not limited to, a picture of the currently selected model.

On the left hand side the current throttle stick position is displayed as a percentage. The current pitch settings are displayed as either a percentage or in the actual degrees the blades are reading (this is all configured in the pitch curve setup, but it’s very cool).

Also on the left is the timer information in the same place it was on the 9Z.

Ofcourse, the currently selected frequency is displayed as well as the current status of all six trims plus the position of the center dial.

In the top right hand corner is a battery level indicator showing in percentage the amount of battery power left.

Along the bottom of the ‘page’ are four labels indicating what the four buttons lined along the bottom of the screen are for. These are, System Menu, Linkage Menu, Model Menu and Condition Hold. It’s great they’ve finally give us a button dedicated to Condition Hold!

SYSTEM MENU
The menus are laid out in a similar fashion to how they are in the 9Z. The System Menu looks after all of the system level functions and settings.

Trainer:
The trainer functions are pretty much the same as the 9Z. You dictate who’s the teacher and who’s the student, but you also say if you’re running an 8 or a 12 channel system.

In the same way with the 9Z, you can define which channels respond to the trainer system. The student can have full control of a channel or partial and this is defined in the Trainer menu. Each channel can be set to either OFF, FUNC, NORM or MIX.

You can now define which switch activates the trainer system.

Display:
The display menu allows you to set the LCD contrast, Auto power off time, Backlighting values and the Backlight off time.

Also, you can define what the back colour will be between red, green, blue or black.

You also calibrate the touch screen from here.

Date and Time:
This is strangely, where you define the current date and time. Why the thing wants to know what day it is I’m not sure. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it rang up the florist and organised flowers for your wife’s birthday.

User ID:
Here you type (using the onscreen QWERTY keyboard) the user id if you wish to set one. I didn’t bother.

Switch:
Here, you tell the system what each type of switch is. This is only used if you’ve taken it upon yourself to move the switches around from their standard location.

If you have done this, the switch ID (ie Switch A or G or whatever) remains the same, but you define if the switch is a three position, two position or a momentary switch.

If you haven’t moved the switches, pretend you didn’t read all this and move on.

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